One World

45) How to Ride a Bike

Posted 11th November 2016

When I was a young boy, I was given a push bike for Christmas. At that time, I was unable to ride a bike unaided. So, the bike had a small wheel on a metal arm protruding outward on either side of the back wheel. These small wheels, or 'stabilisers', were in contact with the ground as I rode and so prevented me from overbalancing and falling off my bike.

One day as I was riding my bike, I looked back at one of the stabilisers, and noticed that it wasn't quite making contact with the ground. I turned to look back at the other stabiliser. It too was an inch or so above the ground. I suddenly realised that I was riding without the use of the stabilisers! Perhaps the metal arms of the stabilisers had bent up a little through repeated loading. Or perhaps my dad had raised the wheels a little, without my knowing, as a subtle way to encourage me to find my own balance, whilst being there to catch me if I ever began to fall. I rushed home and asked my dad to take off the stabilisers. Then I went out and rode my bike unaided for the first time.

In the same way as an unbalanced novice cyclist falls off his bike according to physical laws, so too will an unbalanced civilisation separate from the Earth according to natural laws. Natural laws dictate that if man alters the environment for which he has been perfectly evolved, that is, the pre-industrial World, he will no longer be perfectly evolved for the altered environment. The further removed the natural environment becomes from that for which man has evolved, the more hostile nature will become towards man. If man continues to change the natural World, the changed planet will eventually become uninhabitable to his pre-industrial body.

However, if the safe limits of man's activities are scientifically understood and enforced, then man will be free to safely operate within these limits, but prevented from exceeding them by appropriate safety measures he himself has designed. Whereas this may seem like a restriction on freedom, it actually safeguards against suffering on a global scale and the ultimate extinction of mankind. That is, environmental safety measures make it possible for future generations of mankind to enjoy safe ranges of human activity for all time to come.

Bicycle stabilisers are like fences separating free moving people from danger. When people approach a hazard, they are physically prevented from going further by the fence. Although the fence may seem like it is restricting freedom, it is actually providing people the safety to move freely within an area without the risk of accidentally over-stepping safe limits.

When the learner cyclist over-balances, the stabiliser refuses him or her from falling. Now that the novice cyclist that is mankind is over-balancing with respect to the natural environment, the same strong refusal is needed to stop man from falling to the ground, and to provide man a firm foundation from which to return to a state of balance.

From the National Geographic documentary, "Before the Flood"

The international climate change agreement, the Paris Agreement, described in the above National Geographic documentary hosted by Leonardo Di Caprio (available on YouTube) is by no means adequate, but it is a good beginning. The 2 degrees limit (while striving for a 1.5 degrees limit) on global warming is a barrier beyond which the elected leaders of the nations of Earth have agreed not to exceed. Hopefully it will encourage the further development and implementation of clean energy, inhibit polluting activities, and drive down energy needs through systems efficiency. Once such measures begin to become established worldwide then maybe, hopefully, mankind will be able to go beyond the agreement and actually perfect a balance with nature, undo the damage that has been wrought upon the Earth, and return her to her pre-industrial state. That is, 0 degrees above or below natural global temperatures, with clean air, an abundance of healthy wildlife, and a planet returned to that for which man's body is perfectly suited. This all comes with wisdom - but for now, while still trying to find their balance, mankind needs restrictions placed on their activities. So, everyone, until you have found global environmental balance again, please* keep the stabilisers on.

*Note

I say 'please' in my appeal to the nations of the Earth to abide by the Paris agreement, but if I were unable to ride my bike without falling over I doubt my dad would have taken off the stabilisers despite my pleas to him. By the same token, how can it be acceptable for any particular nation to autonomously decide to destabilise the environment shared by the whole Earth? At present, each nation is a law unto themselves, albeit with multi-national meetings where they try, with mixed success, to negotiate agreements among one another. I think Earth needs a global authority, acting in the interests of the whole planet, to insist upon the boundaries each nation must not transgress. That is, the people of the World need an overall global authority to put the stabilisers on, and only take them off again when the whole World is demonstrably able to maintain a harmonious balance for all time to come. To begin with, I'd recommend those stabilisers are in complete contact with the ground. That is, that the Earth's population are not only prohibited from adding any pollutants to the environment, but that they must correct all the damage they have done, particularly since the industrial revolution. In a free market economy, not exploiting fossil fuels while others do so might affect your competitive edge as a nation. However, the existence of a global authority which insisted on fossil fuels being left in the ground and that directs your efforts to cleaning up pollution and developing clean, safe energy, would not lead to you becoming economically marginalised because the same rules would apply to everyone on Earth. Of course, by extension, the same global authority could insist upon the cooperation of all mankind so that those individuals in greatest need are given priority, until everyone on Earth is raised up to living on a shared, healthy, wise, peaceful and happy planet together.